stonecrandall Chapter 887: Forcing you to fight, who is more stable!
Chapter 887: Forcing you to fight, who is more stable!
"Send the victory report to the mistress immediately." He raised his hand to call for his personal guards, his voice hoarse from days of shouting. "Prepare two more copies of the military document. One will be sent to the palace by post, and the other—" He paused, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the cord wrapped around the hilt of his sword—"Send it directly to the king's tent by red-feathered carrier pigeon."
The guards hurried away, following their orders. Li Zhao gazed at the scattered corpses of the Chu army in the mud outside the city, his brows gradually furrowed. This tentative attack amidst the thunderstorm was strange—the Chu army's formation was loose yet resilient, as if they were not attacking the city, but rather surveying something. He subconsciously touched the parchment scroll in his arms. It was marked with cinnabar marks on it, indicating the locations of seventeen secret caches of black gunpowder around the city walls. These trump cards were the foundation of Xianyang's defense, and now they were being forced to use them prematurely...
"General, the carrier pigeon has been released," the officer reported, holding the pigeon cage. Li Zhao watched the gray figure fluttering its wings and disappearing into the clouds, his heart suddenly pounding. Under the clear, rain-clear sky, that single gray feather stood out, shattering the stillness of heaven and earth like a stone thrown into a lake.
He had no idea that fifty miles outside Xianyang, Chu scouts were crouching breathlessly in a waterlogged meadow. Xiang Zhuang wiped the water from his brow, his sharp eyes sweeping the sky like a hawk. As the gray shadow passed through a gap in the clouds, a cold smile curved his lips. "The third one. Note its location and report it to the king."
Inside the central army tent, Xiang Yu was rubbing the knife marks on the edge of the sand table. The sound of raindrops hitting the tent ceiling faded, replaced by the faint clink of swords in the distance. As his personal guard presented the military report sealed in the Cloud Piercing Quiver, his bronze knuckles turned slightly white from the strain.
"Gao Yao has indeed used black powder." His deep laughter shook the bronze cup on the table. "Order each camp to follow Mr. Yi's plan—we'll have to dig three feet underground to uncover those iron lumps!"
All the generals in the tent were filled with surprise and suspicion. The leading general could not help but clasp his fists and say, "Your Majesty, our army just feigned defeat and retreated, and now they're digging the ground again. Are they really going to burrow like rats?"
Xiang Yu abruptly stood up, his dark cloak whipping up a sharp breeze. He pointed at the model of the Xianyang city wall on the sand table, his eyes blazing like flames. "Do you know why Gao Yao has been able to repeatedly crush the Chu army's morale? It's not due to his bravery, but rather his extraordinary skills and ingenuity!" His sword clanged out of its sheath, the tip of the blade resting heavily on a certain spot on the sand table. "There's three hundred kilograms of black gunpowder buried here, enough to destroy more than ten feet of the city wall—this is something General Yi had already discovered long ago."
The sword tip moved to another place: "There are 500 kilograms of black gunpowder hidden here. It was buried by the current city guard Li Zhao." As the sword tip moved, looking at the main position of Li Zhao's attack that had just been marked,
Xiang Yu sheathed his sword, a complex emotion swirling in his eyes: "Prepare for action." He looked out at the gradually clearing sky outside the tent, and his voice suddenly became solemn: "It was Li Zhao himself who told us the burial location!"
At this time, Li Zhao on the tower was still unaware of the impending crisis. He was urging his soldiers to rest and replenish the city defense supplies when he suddenly saw smoke and dust rising from the Chu army again. Although the Chu army that appeared again was still divided into many small teams, it was completely different from the previous team that was like a headless fly. This time, it seemed to have a clear goal, and there were even shield soldiers between the teams to provide cover.
"Shoot!" Li Zhao shouted sharply. A hail of arrows poured down, and the Chu army continued to fall in the mud. But strangely, the successors were fearless and filled the gaps. The muffled sound of shovels digging in the earth even drowned out the sound of arrows piercing the air.
What frightened him even more was the terrifying clarity of their objectives. Three explosion sites that had recently triggered fire mines were being targeted, and three unused minefields were also being besieged.
He suddenly grabbed the collar of the soldier beside him and asked, "Has anyone left the city to surrender to the enemy today?"
The soldier's face turned purple from being strangled: "Absolutely impossible! All four gates are guarded by the personal army..."
"How could the Chu thief know..." The voice stopped abruptly. Li Zhao suddenly remembered the Chu army's attack an hour ago and his own counterattack. After thinking about this, Li Zhao's face began to turn pale.
Recalling it now, every detail becomes a sharp, poisoned needle. The direction of the Chu army's collapse, the location of the soldiers' collapse, even the trajectory of the smoke... all pointed to those unused minefields! It turns out the feigned defeat and retreat was a lie; the real purpose was to use the explosions to locate other minefields!
"Good Xiang Yu... good at playing hard to get..." Li Zhao dug his nails into his palm, blood dripping from his fingers. He remembered Gao Yao's instructions before leaving: "When using black gunpowder, you must act decisively. You cannot hesitate, otherwise the Chu army will likely discover the clues."
At that time, Li Zhao felt that Gao Yao was too cautious. After all, black gunpowder was almost an invention of the southern border and was extremely powerful. How could it be easily discovered? Now every word has become a prophecy.
Inside the Chu army's main tent, Xiang Yu was looking at the latest excavation map. When his personal guard reported the discovery of two more minefields, he suddenly burst into laughter, so loud that the accumulated rain on the tent ceiling fell.
"Gao Yao, oh Gao Yao, you've come to this day!" He grabbed the jar of wine and drank it down. The amber liquid flowed down his neck and into his armor. "When you killed my uncle, did you ever imagine this day would come? You killed my uncle, and I will slaughter your entire family!"
Xiang Liang's dying image suddenly flashed before his eyes. That uncle, always stroking his long beard and scolding him with laughter, that uncle who had personally taught him how to deploy troops, had ultimately become Gao Yao's stepping stone to higher office. That night outside Xianyang, he should have personally decapitated his enemy, but that unpredictable personal guard had prevented him from doing so.
During the Battle of Kuaiji, he witnessed the Chu army's flags being reduced to ashes in the black gunpowder. At Yangping Pass, he once again missed a good opportunity due to his anxiety, and Gao Yao seized the opportunity.
"Your Majesty!" The messenger rushed in, interrupting the recollection. "A large amount of black powder has been unearthed south of the city!"
Xiang Yu smashed the wine jar, his eyes blazing. "Send a message to the army - even if we have to dig through the earth's veins, we must set off explosives! I want Gao to know that the fire of revenge buried in the blood of the Chu people is more intense than any black gunpowder!"
Li Zhao, standing on the city wall, watched as more and more Chu troops rushed towards the minefield. He suddenly drew his command flag and shouted, "All crossbows, aim at the digging Chu troops! Don't waste your arrows!"
The soldier was shocked: "General! We only have arrows left for our crossbow..."
"Follow the military order!" Li Zhao snatched the drumstick and beat the drum himself. On the one hand, it was to boost morale, and on the other hand, it was to get rid of the anxiety in his heart.
Li Zhao leaned against the cold battlements of the city wall, his knuckles white from exertion. The sound of the Chu army digging beneath the city walls pounded his eardrums like termites gnawing at beams. He could clearly hear the creaking of his own teeth, every muscle clamoring to march out of the city to meet the enemy.
"General!" The deputy general stepped forward, his sword drawn, his eyes burning with anxiety. "I will lead five hundred light cavalrymen to annihilate these rats!"